Help with HID Decission!

IJ.

Grumpy Old Man
Mar 30, 2005
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I paid stupid money for a brand name bixenon 55w kit a few years back, I upgraded from 100/140w Halogens and to be honest the Hid's were dissapointing.

Only good thing is the minimal current they draw.
 

shaeff

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IJ.;1487830 said:
I paid stupid money for a brand name bixenon 55w kit a few years back, I upgraded from 100/140w Halogens and to be honest the Hid's were dissapointing.

Only good thing is the minimal current they draw.

Agreed, a good halogen setup trumps the crappy HID's any day. Even a good halogen setup can compare to quality (OEM) HID's when set up properly. (read: not in DOT housings. LOL)

My e-codes w/ good bulbs and a rewire in my Pickup (H4 like the Supra) are way brighter and better spread than those crappy Chinese HID's that I had in there. I'll never go back to a PnP kit. OEM retro, or proper HID setup, or stay halogen.
 

IJ.

Grumpy Old Man
Mar 30, 2005
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Another "issue" with Bixenon's in H4 housings is the focal lengths are "off", if adjust the high beam for geed distance when you drop to low beam there's a dark patch in front of the car, I used to run the Toyota driving lights to fill that in but wasn't really happy.

I retrofitted some 50w HID's into some Narva compact pencil beam driving lights that fit in the stock holes, I'll adjust low beam so in front of the car is lit up, high beam will be medium range and the pencil beams for distance.

If you stand 100' from the car in daylight and look into the lights you see spots for a minute or so ;)
 

hvyman

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Apr 17, 2007
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i only have one setting but if a bulb goes out its still brighter than stock. i have perfect cutoff and it lights up the road nice. after having hids i dont think i could go back to reg bulbs.
 

hvyman

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yes because it will scatter light like a mofo... you can only get a nice cut off with projectors.
 

Fubar231

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Apr 2, 2008
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So ive read through this thread, and i don't really understand whats going on except screw the chinese crap and retrofit your own hids. Whatever.

My question is, you are all talking about housings for HIDs and whatnot. Are these good housings?
http://www.suprasport.com/Hella-H4_p_36.html
How can you tell good quality housings from crappy ones?
Also, are there any threads on retrofitting hid's from another car?
 

arizzle

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Nov 1, 2006
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hvyman;1487886 said:
yes because it will scatter light like a mofo... you can only get a nice cut off with projectors.

i would have to agree, when i was driving my GF bmw and she was driving my supra i could look directly at my headlights! lol

but i am also running hella's/ 4300k hids which is pure white. and they are far brighter then any other aftermarket bulb i have tried so far.

im pretty happy with my hids, i guess its a hit or miss for some people.
 

becauseican

Supramania Contributor
Mar 31, 2005
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The key to the P&P HIDs is a good housing, The Hella H4 housings are best, dont even waste your time with the cheap ebay H4 housings. I have china HIDs in my car with Bosch H4 housings, which is ok, but the Hella housings that I had in my truck are much better, and have the best cutoff that you can get without a projector install.
 

TurboStreetCar

Formerly Nosechunks
Feb 25, 2006
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supraman72

Ballin out of control
Dec 28, 2009
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nosechunks;1488278 said:
Hmm, why do i remember the E-codes bieng so much more expensive then that?

H4 retrofit HID bulbs in those housings work good? Anyone running that setup with some pictures out there?

My Headlights barely light up anything.........

Yeah guys we need some retrofited pics of what all everyone has done with their own setups
 

Poodles

I play with fire
Jul 22, 2006
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That's for one ;) Yeah, they're like 80 bucks. Yes, I ran retrofit HIDs in them and while they're fine, the cheap ass HID's don't last.
 

Poodles

I play with fire
Jul 22, 2006
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Doesn't HAVE to be phillips as there are a few good OEM ones out there. But overall the chinese kits suck. The bulbs are rebased so you can't just buy an HID bulb. The controller for the high/low is shit. The ballasts are garbage.
 

supraman72

Ballin out of control
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Poodles;1488404 said:
Doesn't HAVE to be phillips as there are a few good OEM ones out there. But overall the chinese kits suck. The bulbs are rebased so you can't just buy an HID bulb. The controller for the high/low is shit. The ballasts are garbage.

i am getting a slight vibe that you are strongly againt chinese shit...
 

TurboStreetCar

Formerly Nosechunks
Feb 25, 2006
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Poodles;1488308 said:
That's for one ;) Yeah, they're like 80 bucks. Yes, I ran retrofit HIDs in them and while they're fine, the cheap ass HID's don't last.

Yea still i remember them being like ~300 for some reason....

Ill have to pick up a set.

Hows the cutoff line with them in the E-codes? Were you using the bulbs with the shields on the bottom of them?

I moreso want to see pictures of the light output then anything else.
 

Poodles

I play with fire
Jul 22, 2006
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Terrible pic but you get the idea:
p1488753_1.jpg


I used the ones with the shields and moving bulbs to switch beams.

Keep in mind I don't have anything against chinese made stuff (hell, a LOT of stuff is made there) it's just these low quality kits that are everywhere.